Internships: Graduate assistant graphic designer/artist for WCSU since January 2009

Honors and Awards: 3.88 GPA, Dean's List

Maybe not everyone on WestConn's Midtown campus recognizes graduate student Hiroshi Mizuno's face, but a lot of people have seen his work without realizing it. The talented illustrator, a native of Nagoya, Japan, has practiced his art and perfected his skills as an intern designing posters and marketing pieces for a number of campus events. His drawings have even graced the Facebook pages of staff members so impressed with his work they wanted to share it with others.

Mizuno obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and when he contemplated graduate school, he says he was looking for a "not-so-large school in the Northeast" to study illustration. "WCSU matched," he explains.

Asked what he will remember most about his WestConn experience, Mizuno says, "I created advertising materials for different academic departments and events at WCSU. I've done those projects mostly for the International Services Office. My international student adviser, Missy Gluckmann, became a great organizer/ project adviser/ boss of my internship. I also had great experiences as a teaching assistant for art classes.”

After graduation, Mizuno says his short-term goal is to be a published illustrator. Eventually, he says,
"I'd love to teach illustration, digital art and/or graphic design at the college level."

Mizuno’s advice to new students entering WCSU is: “Please be enthusiastic about what you really like. Whatever you do, you have to be crazy about it to be good at it.”